No one ever said it was going to be easy...

June 06, 2006

Potty 1, Mommy 0

So, remember when I told you that my daughter was a nudist and liked to poop on the floor? Well, she actually decided to poop in the potty the other day. Okay, let me rephrase. She was naked, started grunting, and I grabbed her tiny butt and stuck in on the toilet with the tiny-butt seat. But, she wouldn't go. You know, no privacy, legs dangling, no leverage. Hell, a no leverage poop these days is totally unheard of (hello, Mrs. Roid... Nice to meet you). So, I picked her up and ran her over to her Pooh Potty (note exhibit A) which provided her with a) leverage and b) privacy.

With repeated offers of candies falling from heaven, there she sat and there she pooped. And after much praise, a toilet paper wipe, and 14 gummy lifesavers later, there it sat. The poop.

So, then what? Um HELLO. What the heck do I do with the gigantic crap sitting in the purple bucket? I know to dump it in the toilet. And then I rinsed it out IN THE TOILET. But people. There were scrapes and scraps and remnants. And where does one scrub such things? And with what? The special potty scrubbing sponge?

I'm embarrassed to say I used half the bottle of toilet cleaner and a quick whipping wrist action and got most of it off. And then I rinsed the rest... in the sink. And then I decided, pooping in that damn potty is highly overrated.

So people. Help me out. She needs the leverage to poop. She's a stand and grunt kind of girl. However, cleaning the pot? Oy. I can barely pick hairs out of the shower drain (my OWN hairs), let alone scrub a big old poopy skid. What should I do here?

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Michelle...our nearly 5 year old boy won't wipe himself either. I just learned that he holds it all day at Montessori school so he can poop at home and have us wipe for him. But we decided to stop and that's when we learned he wouldn't do it on his own.

I wish I had an answer for you. I don't. I just didn't want you to think you were the only one experiencing that.

OK - we are past the regular sitting on the potty - have that down. Now what to do with a 5 year old boy who REFUSES to wipe himself?!? Does anyone have any advice??

We have tried it all - bribery, yelling, refusing to do it for him, buying the special toddler wipes (which he used to clean my walls of paint). He's pretty stubborn. He will sit for an hour if I left him there. Seriously.

I really need help. He's gonna be in first grade next year and not be able to wipe his own butt!!! As it is, I practically force him to go "try" before Kindergarten every day. We've only had one morning where he almost had a meltdown walking into school because he suddenly needed to "go" and then I had to use wet paper towels to get the job done.

The easiest way is to fill the pot in the little potty with some water. That way you don't have to do a heavy cleaning and it just slids into your big toliet when you empty. I picked up this tip from a been there done that mommy and I pass onto you.

We have the chair (that cute little multipurpose number by Boon). We have the Impling. We have the Impling who runs screaming from the bathroom every time the lid of said chair is raised into the full upright position.

I don't think we're ready for this yet.

The scoop of the chair, however, has become invaluable for cleaning out those little logs of love the Impling occasionally leaves floating in the bathtub. Ew. Double Ew.

Cleaned scoop out with hot water and clorox wipes after dumping her work in the toilet.

Cleaned bathtub with bleach/hot water, boiling water, soap and water, and more bleach, and more boiling water. Bleh.

I teach preschool, as you know, and we really, I mean really, recommend just using the toilet with a potty seat. Then all you have to do is FLUSH. And the kids LOVE TO FLUSH. The woman I teach with has been teaching 2 year old preschool for 50 years (she's 71)...so there is a lot of thought and authority behind the suggestion!

and that is the very reason I refused to let my kids be potty trained on a kiddie toilet. Cleaning out a bucket o'poo was not on my agenda now or ever.

It also made it easier for them to learn to use a public toilet because they don't have a mini stall with a little kiddie toilet to use. My niece had trouble using toilets outside her house because she was used to a baby one.

I think I am not as grossed out by this because we have our gal in cloth diapers, which involves dumping poop in the toilet and sometimes washing the diaper wraps. (We have a service so there is no diaper washing, thankfully.) As long as you wash your hands afterwards, life goes on.

When it is time for the toilet training I will have to remember the bag or wipe in the bottom of the bucket.

I'm the laziest mother ever. If he had to poop, I got out a really small garbage sack, lined the bucket with it, then just tied it off and threw it in the diaper pail or outside garbage when he was done.

Can you get a good footstool/stepstool to put in front of the toilet? My son, almost 3 this summer, goes on the toilet for all poop, but we use the step stool for leverage. He can do all the set up himself (potty seat, stool, pants down, sitting)...

this is so much nicer than poopy diapers. I can't believe its almost been two months since I changed a poopy diaper. Too bad he won't do it for the sitter. :)

Try one of those kid seats that you put on the actual toilet and get her a stool. They make the seats in Dora and other crap..er kid designs. It just snaps over the lid of the toilet, but it is made for kids tiny butts. Then they feel comfortable, plus they get used to a potty being bigger than them.

Yeah, once we had the potty routine down pat, we pretty much moved to a toilet seat insert with a stepstool so that we wouldn't have to deal with scrubbing out the seat. What I did to clean it in the interim was to add water from the tub to the bucket, swish, and deposit in toilet, then wipe out with a big handful of flushable wipes. Gross, but worked for most things.

Now wait until you have a little boy who isn't quite 'long' (ahem) enough to 'tuck down' and doesn't want any assistance but is still bent on doing it allbyhimself and HOSES anything within skeet shooting range. And then does it on the precious virginal babysitter.

OK-- here's my method. Dump everything that will dump. Fill potty seat 1/2 way with water from tub (don't turn water on too hard or there will be spray). Dump into toilet, repeating once. Wipe remianing residual out with a baby wipe or a Chlorox wipe. Once a week or so, pour a tablespoon or two of bleach and a cup of water into potty seat and let sit till next use.

Rubber gloves. Clorox wipes. Dump pot in toilet, rinse with hot water, dump that in toilet, wipe out thoroughly with clorox wipe. Remove gloves, wash hands. Potty training my third now, so I'm with ya. We are also trying the seat on the toilet, I have a plastic one with handles that works well for the leverage issue, but my kids are peanuts, and sometimes Sunny's little butt falls in the hole. That'll block things up good. Good luck!

Just wanted to add that it's probably more efficient cleaning wise to fill bucket to 3/4 with HOT water and poo, but then you are left holding a bucket full of hot, steamy poo. And we all know how that smells.

We're with you here. After training my daughter on the tiny potty and having my husband REFUSE AT ALL TIMES to clean it, we are attempting to train my son with the big potty. He loves to sit on it, but has the same problem. SO, at the very least, try to keep the bottom of your tiny potty covered at all times with something flushable - i.e. not a paper towel or diaper wipe, as this will clog your toilet when you dump it all. Try buying a cheaper package of those moist flushable wipes, and keeping the bottom of the potty chair lined with it. When potty time is finished, dump enitre mess into potty.

This isn't fool-proof by any means, and there will still be some poop left over, but it helps. HINT: always replace wipe after each potty time, so as not to forget when hurrying to plop her on the chair.

Take poo-filled plastic bucket to sink. Run lots of cold water on high pressure to er... dislodge the poo. Fill to 3/4 with poo/water mixture. DON'T SPILL. Lift toilet seat & dump in bowl. Repeat as necessary. When most of poo is gone, take extra thick baby wipe (toddler wipes are good) and wipe out rest of plastic bucket. Try not to barf. Or think of food items.

I am starting this potty adventure as well. My daughter likes to "hide" in the corner when she is pooping so I may have to set up a potty in her "special corner" for the poops! Ahhhh, the joys of parenting that people forget to tell you about! Did you ever imagine yourself cleaning poop out of a plastic potty?!?!!?!?

I'm with you on cleaning out the potty, it's gross. I moved my daughter right to the toilet with toddler seat, using a large platform type stool (snicker) in front of it, for easy access and leverage. Mine was wooden, but I would advise a scrubbable surface, a hard lesson we learned after a diarrhea episode.